ER Eddie
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2013
- Messages
- 1,788
Lessons from the First Year of Retirement
I’m approaching my one-year retirement anniversary, so I thought I’d share the main lessons I’ve learned. If you’re approaching retirement, you might find some of this helpful. If you’ve already retired, maybe you’ll relate to some of this, or perhaps your experience has been different.
1. Hey, an economic collapse. Neat.
The economy went into a tailspin 9 months after I retired. After only 9 months, my retirement felt like a newborn baby, and baby was getting smacked around pretty early in life.
But, as it turns out, economic catastrophes aren’t so catastrophic after all. At least so far. The world is burning, but I’m doing okay. Sing along now: “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”
2. I figured out when I’m going back to work: never
Approaching retirement, in the back of my mind, I had a fallback option of turning retirement into a “gap year” or two, if it didn’t pan out. That is, I thought that I might choose to return to part-time work, after a year or two’s hiatus. That wasn’t the plan, but it was a failsafe option.
I wondered, “What if I miss the intellectual stimulation or challenge of work? What if I miss interacting with smart people in my profession? What if I can’t find enough activities that feel meaningful and productive?”
Well, none of that happened. I am more intellectually stimulated and challenged now in retirement than I was at work. I occasionally miss some of the interaction with colleagues, but interactions in the workplace were narrow in scope, because of the professional roles and tasks. I interact with a wider range of smart people now, and I feel freer to express what I think about a variety of issues I’d never talk about at work. And I haven’t had any trouble finding meaningful things to do.
So, my career is over. It feels a little sad to say that, but also freeing. I don’t say it with any negativity. I never got “sick of” my job or anything like that. I always liked it at least a little. I just know that I’m done with it. My career is part of my past now. It’s in the rear-view mirror, and I’m not going back.
3. I significantly underestimated my expenses
I tracked spending before I retired, but I sort of half-assed it. I used old, limited data from a time when I was in “saving for retirement” mode.
When I actually retired, I ended up spending a lot more money than normal, especially in the first 6 months. I opened the spigot. I was celebrating. I bought whatever I felt like buying -- a bike, camping gear, a dog, some furniture, a ton of books and music, clothes, some stupid ****. Also, once I retired, I noticed a bunch of stuff that needed replacing or upgrading, which I’d been putting off while working.
Yearly expenses were $5000/yr. higher than expected. Not a lot in actual dollar terms, but looked at as a percentage, that’s 15% higher than what I projected (38K vs. 33K/yr.). That’s not a problem – I jacked up my spending on purpose, and I’ve got plenty of headroom -- but it is substantially higher than what I estimated.
In retrospect, I think I unconsciously kept the estimates as low as I could, because by doing that, I could feel safer and more secure when pulling the plug.
We’ll see how this plays out over the next few years. I feel better now that I have a more realistic estimate of my spending. And I take some comfort knowing that I can dial back expenses 15% if I need to.
However, if you’re approaching retirement, be aware you might tend to underestimate expenses, just like I did.
4. The honeymoon lasted about 6 to 9 months
I was very happy in retirement for the first 6 to 9 months. Gradually, though, that feeling ebbed, and eventually, I returned to my baseline levels of happiness.
I think it’s called hedonic adaptation. If I remember right, most people who win the lottery are back to baseline levels of happiness in about 6 to 12 months, and so are most people diagnosed with cancer. So, it’s not surprising that something similar happens with retirement. We adjust to changes. Retirement becomes “the new normal.”
One distinction, though: If you ask me whether I’m more satisfied with my life now that I’m retired, I’d say “Yes, absolutely.” I’m just saying my day-to-day mood is not all that much better than it was before I retired. Probably a little.
So, just be aware that retirement doesn’t put a permanent smile on your face. If my experience is any gauge, you’ll have a honeymoon period where everything feels great, and then you’ll gradually return to baseline. You might feel a little better on a day-to-day basis, but don’t expect huge changes.
Two caveats:
1. I always enjoyed my work (at least somewhat), and I had already been working in a very easy part-time schedule for years prior to retirement, so I didn’t experience what many people here do -- a miserable/stressful work life, contrasted with the blissful release of retirement. If you have the latter, I’ll bet your honeymoon period will be more enjoyable and long-lasting.
2. It’s possible that the virus and economic collapse took a little wind out of my sails. That might be a factor, too. It’s hard to say.
I don’t want to leave the impression that I’m unhappy in retirement. Not at all. I’m enjoying my retirement and have no regrets.
5. I needed “meaningful work” sooner than I expected
Once, on another retirement forum, I got blasted for suggesting that people need a sense of meaning/purpose in retirement. Some guy got really pissed with me for saying so, and despite my assurances that if it didn’t apply to him, never mind, he continued to rant and rave about it in all caps. Apparently, some people get very upset with the suggestion that having a sense of meaning in life is important.
So, if this doesn’t fit for you, junk it. I’m talking about me. I’m not talking about what you or anyone else “should” do. I’m just speaking for myself.
I need a sense of meaning and purpose in life. That doesn’t mean I need to be engaged in meaningful activities all the time or even most of the time. I can fart around and waste time with the best of them, and I spend plenty of time just resting, relaxing, and doing nothing in particular. No problem with that.
However, at the end of the day (or life), I need to also feel like I did something meaningful with some of my time. I can’t just fart around all day, every day, and feel good about myself. I’m not wired that way.
So, I knew that part of what happy retirement meant for me was to eventually find “meaningful work.” By that I don’t mean paid employment – I mean an enjoyable project that uses my skills/knowledge and that also, hopefully, makes the world a little better place, even in a small, minor way. My career supplied some of that, so I knew that eventually, I’d need to find something else that scratched that itch.
I didn’t expect to feel that need for a couple years into retirement, though. It was way down my priority list, when planning. I had other sources of meaning (e.g., learning, growth, taking care of animals, etc.) which were more important to me than my career, so I didn’t think I’d feel the need for “meaningful work” right away.
And I didn’t. For the first six months of retirement, I wanted nothing to do with anything that even remotely resembled “w*rk.” Yuck. I just wanted to do whatever I felt like doing, day to day. I wanted to be completely free and unencumbered.
However, after about six months, I felt the need asserting itself. I’ve pondered and experimented quite a bit, and I’m still experimenting, but blogging is working out well for me so far. It’s a good fit for me. I get absorbed in it; the subject (animal afterlife) feels worthwhile to me, and I feel better after doing it.
I am usually able to keep a pretty good balance, where I work on it a couple hours a day, then have the rest of the day “free.” If I go for long stretches (which I can do sometimes, because I lose track of time), I will take a break for as long as I need. I want it to stay enjoyable and not turn into a “job” or an obligation.
So, for anyone who’s like me, the issue of meaningful work may pop up sooner than you expect. It has been a significant piece of the puzzle for me.
6. The lure of social media
I’m single, don’t have a family to occupy my time, and I’m not into watching TV or movies, travel, going to sporting events etc.. So, now that I am retired and don’t have a career, I have a ton of free time. I like it that way – lots of freedom, peace, and spaciousness. But along with that comes the temptation to waste that time on social media.
Social media has its upsides, of course, but the downsides are pernicious and covert. I have to keep an eye on my consumption, or I end up wasting too much time and energy on it. I’ve been aware of the problem for many years, but retirement has made it more salient, because of all the increased free time. I have to keep an eye on it.
For example, it’s very easy for me to go on a Facebook or Reddit group and spend an hour reading threads and making posts. Then I get sucked into discussions that don’t amount to a hill of beans. On Youtube, it’s very easy to spend a lot of time scrolling through the recommendations or subscriptions. News/politics in particular are very toxic and distracting.
So, in retirement, I’ve had to become pretty vigilant about my use of social media. If I’m not careful, I can end up wasting too much of my time and energy on it, and my life suffers. It may sound like a trivial thing, but it has a huge impact on the quality of my day to day life.
------
So, those are my main lessons from the first year of retirement. I learned some other things, but they only pertain to me, not others, so I’ll leave them out. Hopefully, you found something to relate to or some food for thought. Cheers.
I’m approaching my one-year retirement anniversary, so I thought I’d share the main lessons I’ve learned. If you’re approaching retirement, you might find some of this helpful. If you’ve already retired, maybe you’ll relate to some of this, or perhaps your experience has been different.
1. Hey, an economic collapse. Neat.
The economy went into a tailspin 9 months after I retired. After only 9 months, my retirement felt like a newborn baby, and baby was getting smacked around pretty early in life.
But, as it turns out, economic catastrophes aren’t so catastrophic after all. At least so far. The world is burning, but I’m doing okay. Sing along now: “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”
2. I figured out when I’m going back to work: never
Approaching retirement, in the back of my mind, I had a fallback option of turning retirement into a “gap year” or two, if it didn’t pan out. That is, I thought that I might choose to return to part-time work, after a year or two’s hiatus. That wasn’t the plan, but it was a failsafe option.
I wondered, “What if I miss the intellectual stimulation or challenge of work? What if I miss interacting with smart people in my profession? What if I can’t find enough activities that feel meaningful and productive?”
Well, none of that happened. I am more intellectually stimulated and challenged now in retirement than I was at work. I occasionally miss some of the interaction with colleagues, but interactions in the workplace were narrow in scope, because of the professional roles and tasks. I interact with a wider range of smart people now, and I feel freer to express what I think about a variety of issues I’d never talk about at work. And I haven’t had any trouble finding meaningful things to do.
So, my career is over. It feels a little sad to say that, but also freeing. I don’t say it with any negativity. I never got “sick of” my job or anything like that. I always liked it at least a little. I just know that I’m done with it. My career is part of my past now. It’s in the rear-view mirror, and I’m not going back.
3. I significantly underestimated my expenses
I tracked spending before I retired, but I sort of half-assed it. I used old, limited data from a time when I was in “saving for retirement” mode.
When I actually retired, I ended up spending a lot more money than normal, especially in the first 6 months. I opened the spigot. I was celebrating. I bought whatever I felt like buying -- a bike, camping gear, a dog, some furniture, a ton of books and music, clothes, some stupid ****. Also, once I retired, I noticed a bunch of stuff that needed replacing or upgrading, which I’d been putting off while working.
Yearly expenses were $5000/yr. higher than expected. Not a lot in actual dollar terms, but looked at as a percentage, that’s 15% higher than what I projected (38K vs. 33K/yr.). That’s not a problem – I jacked up my spending on purpose, and I’ve got plenty of headroom -- but it is substantially higher than what I estimated.
In retrospect, I think I unconsciously kept the estimates as low as I could, because by doing that, I could feel safer and more secure when pulling the plug.
We’ll see how this plays out over the next few years. I feel better now that I have a more realistic estimate of my spending. And I take some comfort knowing that I can dial back expenses 15% if I need to.
However, if you’re approaching retirement, be aware you might tend to underestimate expenses, just like I did.
4. The honeymoon lasted about 6 to 9 months
I was very happy in retirement for the first 6 to 9 months. Gradually, though, that feeling ebbed, and eventually, I returned to my baseline levels of happiness.
I think it’s called hedonic adaptation. If I remember right, most people who win the lottery are back to baseline levels of happiness in about 6 to 12 months, and so are most people diagnosed with cancer. So, it’s not surprising that something similar happens with retirement. We adjust to changes. Retirement becomes “the new normal.”
One distinction, though: If you ask me whether I’m more satisfied with my life now that I’m retired, I’d say “Yes, absolutely.” I’m just saying my day-to-day mood is not all that much better than it was before I retired. Probably a little.
So, just be aware that retirement doesn’t put a permanent smile on your face. If my experience is any gauge, you’ll have a honeymoon period where everything feels great, and then you’ll gradually return to baseline. You might feel a little better on a day-to-day basis, but don’t expect huge changes.
Two caveats:
1. I always enjoyed my work (at least somewhat), and I had already been working in a very easy part-time schedule for years prior to retirement, so I didn’t experience what many people here do -- a miserable/stressful work life, contrasted with the blissful release of retirement. If you have the latter, I’ll bet your honeymoon period will be more enjoyable and long-lasting.
2. It’s possible that the virus and economic collapse took a little wind out of my sails. That might be a factor, too. It’s hard to say.
I don’t want to leave the impression that I’m unhappy in retirement. Not at all. I’m enjoying my retirement and have no regrets.
5. I needed “meaningful work” sooner than I expected
Once, on another retirement forum, I got blasted for suggesting that people need a sense of meaning/purpose in retirement. Some guy got really pissed with me for saying so, and despite my assurances that if it didn’t apply to him, never mind, he continued to rant and rave about it in all caps. Apparently, some people get very upset with the suggestion that having a sense of meaning in life is important.
So, if this doesn’t fit for you, junk it. I’m talking about me. I’m not talking about what you or anyone else “should” do. I’m just speaking for myself.
I need a sense of meaning and purpose in life. That doesn’t mean I need to be engaged in meaningful activities all the time or even most of the time. I can fart around and waste time with the best of them, and I spend plenty of time just resting, relaxing, and doing nothing in particular. No problem with that.
However, at the end of the day (or life), I need to also feel like I did something meaningful with some of my time. I can’t just fart around all day, every day, and feel good about myself. I’m not wired that way.
So, I knew that part of what happy retirement meant for me was to eventually find “meaningful work.” By that I don’t mean paid employment – I mean an enjoyable project that uses my skills/knowledge and that also, hopefully, makes the world a little better place, even in a small, minor way. My career supplied some of that, so I knew that eventually, I’d need to find something else that scratched that itch.
I didn’t expect to feel that need for a couple years into retirement, though. It was way down my priority list, when planning. I had other sources of meaning (e.g., learning, growth, taking care of animals, etc.) which were more important to me than my career, so I didn’t think I’d feel the need for “meaningful work” right away.
And I didn’t. For the first six months of retirement, I wanted nothing to do with anything that even remotely resembled “w*rk.” Yuck. I just wanted to do whatever I felt like doing, day to day. I wanted to be completely free and unencumbered.
However, after about six months, I felt the need asserting itself. I’ve pondered and experimented quite a bit, and I’m still experimenting, but blogging is working out well for me so far. It’s a good fit for me. I get absorbed in it; the subject (animal afterlife) feels worthwhile to me, and I feel better after doing it.
I am usually able to keep a pretty good balance, where I work on it a couple hours a day, then have the rest of the day “free.” If I go for long stretches (which I can do sometimes, because I lose track of time), I will take a break for as long as I need. I want it to stay enjoyable and not turn into a “job” or an obligation.
So, for anyone who’s like me, the issue of meaningful work may pop up sooner than you expect. It has been a significant piece of the puzzle for me.
6. The lure of social media
I’m single, don’t have a family to occupy my time, and I’m not into watching TV or movies, travel, going to sporting events etc.. So, now that I am retired and don’t have a career, I have a ton of free time. I like it that way – lots of freedom, peace, and spaciousness. But along with that comes the temptation to waste that time on social media.
Social media has its upsides, of course, but the downsides are pernicious and covert. I have to keep an eye on my consumption, or I end up wasting too much time and energy on it. I’ve been aware of the problem for many years, but retirement has made it more salient, because of all the increased free time. I have to keep an eye on it.
For example, it’s very easy for me to go on a Facebook or Reddit group and spend an hour reading threads and making posts. Then I get sucked into discussions that don’t amount to a hill of beans. On Youtube, it’s very easy to spend a lot of time scrolling through the recommendations or subscriptions. News/politics in particular are very toxic and distracting.
So, in retirement, I’ve had to become pretty vigilant about my use of social media. If I’m not careful, I can end up wasting too much of my time and energy on it, and my life suffers. It may sound like a trivial thing, but it has a huge impact on the quality of my day to day life.
------
So, those are my main lessons from the first year of retirement. I learned some other things, but they only pertain to me, not others, so I’ll leave them out. Hopefully, you found something to relate to or some food for thought. Cheers.
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